Ethical challenges arising in the COVID-19 pandemic: An overview from the Association of Bioethics Program Directors (ABPD) task force

Ethical challenges arising in the COVID-19 pandemic: An overview from the Association of Bioethics Program Directors (ABPD) task force

McGuire AL;Aulisio M P;Davis FD;Erwin C;Harter TD;Jagsi R;Klitzman R;Macauley R;Racine E;Wolf SM;Wynia M;Wolpe PR;The COVID-19 Task Force of the Association of Bioethics Program Directors (ABPD)

The American Journal of Bioethics

2020

2020-07-02

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised a host of ethical challenges, but key among these has been the possibility that health care systems might need to ration scarce critical care resources. Rationing policies for pandemics differ by institution, health system, and applicable law. Most seem to agree that a patient’s ability to benefit from treatment and to survive are first-order considerations. However, there is debate about what clinical measures should be used to make that determination and about other factors that might be ethically appropriate to consider. In this paper, we discuss resource allocation and several related ethical challenges to the healthcare system and society, including how to define benefit, how to handle informed consent, the special needs of pediatric patients, how to engage communities in these difficult decisions, and how to mitigate concerns of discrimination and the effects of structural inequities.

Public Health; decision-making; health care delivery; health policy; end-of-life issues; rationing/resource allocation

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15-27

7

20

1526-5161, 1536-0075

NEOMED College of Medicine

Department of Family & Community Medicine

October 2020 List